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Well, according to Forbes, they’re these Manolo Blahnik alligator boots, at a whopping $14,000.

‘When we’re talking about shoes at $14,000, it’s the materials,’ says Michael Fink, senior fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. ‘Leather and the pattern and type of wood they’re using, the jewels, are the beads hand done, how rare are the feathers–because a lot of shoes with feathers are using feathers that can’t be gathered anymore, from the archives of the couture feather houses. Roger Vivier shoes have a specific curved heel, and the way it is attached to the footbed is very mechanical and difficult, so you’re paying for engineering, too,’ Fink says.

The article is a bit dated, but still interesting. See the rest of the slide show here.